Transcript of the Video Above

Daily reflections for Lenten Easter, written by Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI.

The story of the fall of Adam and Eve is colored throughout, especially at the end, with sexual imagery. So much so that we can easily conclude that their transgression was of a sexual nature. It wasn’t. The sexual motif in the story is a metaphor, an image of rape.

Adam and Eve took as by force, something that can only be received in love. The condition that God gave Adam and Eve might be summarized this way.

I am giving you life. I will bathe you in life, but you must receive it and never take it. As long as you receive it, it will always be life giving. But on the day you begin to take rather than receive, your actions will begin to deal death, distrust, alienation, nakedness and shame.

That single commandment encapsulates all morality. It’s the same with love. Something is only love, and it can only give life when it is freely given. This condition is part of love’s DNA.

The original sin of Adam and Eve wasn’t sexual, but it was an act of rape. They wrongfully took what was intended as gift.

Our culture, which rewards aggressiveness and tells us that we are foolish not to take for ourselves the good things we want, too often invites us to do the same thing.